Today we had an Anuban program all morning for the
King's
birthday, which is next week, and that doubles as a Father's Day
celebration. So there were four fathers that got honored along
with their
kids in a big ceremony, along with Thai dancing and singing. We
had a
similar shindig for the Queen's birthday/Mother's Day a few months
back.
They're fun to watch, but since they're all in Thai and I have no idea
what
they're saying, they get very long. The best part today was that
there
was a little skit to show all that fathers do, along with narration,
and there
was a little girl and her dad, who worked so hard for his little girl
that he
collapsed in the field and fainted. The little girl was very
worried, and
sat over him fanning him, until, fortunately, the nurse came to take
care of
him. Since Pam (who's fluent in Thai) was there I kept
asking her
what was going on. Apparently the teacher providing the
narration
kept saying things like, "Oh, no! Is her father going to
die?!" And the nurse came because even though the man was
poor,
there is now a program that provides nurses to poor people,
courtesy of
the Thai King. The little girl fanning him and him falling
down and
lying prone on the stage, straw hat and all, had us in stitches.
After he
was cured he got up and then he and the little girl disappeared, and
came back
on stage accompanied by three more children, on hands and knees,
one with
a pig headpiece and two with chicken headpieces. According to Pam
this was to celebrate another of the King's
programs that
provides animals to poor farmers. So he was actually a rich
man!